Song of Ice
by Ray Lou
Summary: (Pre-release) Jack's first encounter with a true believer gives him a chance to make up for his lost life.
1. Introduction

Introduction

* * *

_Burgess, Pennsylvania, U.S._

"_I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known, don't know where it goes, but it's home to me and I walk alone_." Jack gave no mind to his volume. The town was sleeping, but no one could hear (or see) him, so what point was there to tone it down? "_I walk this empty street, on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, when the city sleeps, and I'm the only one and I walk. I walk alone, I walk alone._"

Jack walked past the Burgess gas station for the second time, marking his second lap around the town.

"_I walk alone, I walk a_-"

"Put a lid on it. You make me want to shove a carrot down your throat." Bunny's voice came from the street corner Jack had just passed.

Jack had seen Bunny standing there; he didn't feel inclined to acknowledge the Guardian's presence.

"You'd like that," Jack tossed back, and then he carried on with his singing. "_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me, my shallow heart's the only thing that's beating, sometimes I wish someone up there will find me, 'til then I walk alone."_

"Actually," Bunny hopped over to Jack. The boy's slow pace was easy to match without getting down on all fours. "I'm walking beside you right now. Someone up there has already found you: Manny. And you're obviously not walking alone, unless you can't see me."

"Not in the mood," Jack said. "_I'm walking down the line, that divides me somewhere in my mind_-"

"Mate-"

"-_on the border line, of the edge of where I walk alone_."

"Mate, it's not-"

Jack sang louder. "_Read between the lines, what's fucked up and everything's alright, check my vital signs, to know I'm still alive and I walk alone."_

"When you want to talk, drop by North's workshop or Tooth's palace and-"

"I said I'm not in the mood," Jack snapped.

"We're here for you, Jack. Don't forget it."

The street lamps picked out the soft smile on Bunny's face. He raised a hand as if to touch Jack, hesitated, and then dropped it. He left after a quiet "see ya later".

Jack turned into an alley between two apartment buildings. "_I walk alone, I walk alone."_

#

Jamie tried to keep up with his friends, but found it difficult with the daunting shadows the trees cast over him. He jogged up the path. His fear turned his voice into a soft whisper. "Wait guys!"

"Keep up. If we lose you, my dad's gonna flip!" Caleb said.

His twin brother Claude nodded. "And we'll be grounded forever!"

"We're not even supposed to be here," Jamie whispered. He had a creeping feeling in his belly that they were being followed. "And it's getting dark."

"That's what flashlights are for," Caleb said. He twirled his heavy duty flashlight. Claude copied him.

"I know, but it's still not safe. No one's supposed to come out here." Jamie stepped his pace up; he was falling behind again.

"Didn't you hear what my mom said? You only have one life."

"She didn't mean breaking the rules and risking our lives."

"Hey," Caleb said. He held a hand up. "YOLO."

"Yeah! YOLO!" Claude cheered.

A blast of wind sent chills through Jamie's body and rooted his feet to the ground. The twins continued on, unaffected.

Jamie strode to Caleb's side. He was the eldest of the twins, and therefore the leader. "We should go back."

"Come on Jamie, don't be a baby."

"It's not safe."

"But YOLO!" Claude said.

"That's just an excuse. And your mom meant to have as much fun as you can _safely_. Not to have fun with danger!"

"We're just going to do a little skating," Caleb said. The trees cleared and the path ended at the shore of a frozen pond.

"Wahoo!" Claude slung his backpack to the ground, next to a large frosted rock, and pulled out his skates.

"If you want to skate, go to the ice rink!"

"But we're already here," Claude said.

Caleb dropped his pack next to his brother's and pulled out two pairs of skates. "Want one?" he asked Jamie.

"I'm not skating here." Jamie folded his arms boldly, but his voice had the opposite effect. "I really don't think we should be here."

"You think too much."

"You think too little. What if the ice cracks?"

"It won't crack." Caleb waved his worry off. "We'll be fine."

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" Claude pushed off the shore and blasted a path down the pond.

Jamie crossed his fingers and hoped the ice wouldn't give under the sudden weight.

"It's so smooth!" Caleb said when he joined his brother. He made a smooth figure eight. "You've got to try this!" he said to Jamie.

"I'll just stay here." Jamie sat down on the rock.

He dug his hands into his vest's pockets and watched his friends have their fun. He'd give them ten minutes or so and then bring up how their parents would start getting worried if they didn't head back; the sky was darkening quickly.

Jamie picked up one of the flashlights.

Something rustled behind him.

He stood up and searched the trees and searched the area behind the rock.

"Tag! You're it!" Claude exclaimed. He gave a whoop and Jamie could hear the scratch of his skates.

Jamie turned the flashlight on and shone it in the woods. The light beam picked out a few details he wouldn't have seen without the extra light. There was nobody – who he could see.

He could hear the crunch of footsteps on snow. It was quiet, and if his hearing was as sensitive as it was, he probably wouldn't have picked it out.

"Hello?" he called out. "Is someone there?"

"Can't touch this!" Caleb sang.

"Oh yeah I can!" Claude sang back.

Jamie looked back at his friends. The pond was holding their weight. Maybe he was being paranoid. He stepped into the woods.

"Hello?"

Something pelted his back. He shrieked and jumped around. "Who did that?" he asked, rubbing the snow off his vest. Someone had thrown a snowball at him.

Another one hit his back. He whirled around. "Who's there?"

Snow crunched.

"I can hear you." Jamie ventured to a thickset tree. The sound had come from behind it. "Is someone-"

"JAMIE! JAMIE HELP!"

"Caleb?"

Jamie ran to the clearing. Claude was sitting at the center of the pond, legs splayed out and hands propping him up. He didn't move, but Jamie could see the slight trembling of his arms.

Caleb was sitting several feet from Claude, eyes darting to cracks that had appeared on the pond's surface. The largest ones were by Claude.

"I told you." Jamie walked to the shore and looked for something to inspire a plan. "I told you it wasn't safe and now look."

"What do we do?" Claude asked.

Jamie ran his hands over his head, slipping his hat off. He fingered the hem as he tried to remember what his mother had once told him.

"My mom once told me what to do, but I don't remember," Jamie said.

Caleb slowly stretched a leg out behind him, and then another. "I think we're supposed to lie down."

"Yes!" Jamie clapped his hands. "That's it! Lie on your stomach and crawl to the edge. _Slowly_," he said when Caleb quickly pressed his stomach to the ice. "Crawl very, _very_ slowly."

"I know." Caleb licked his lips and started pulling himself towards Jamie.

"What about me?" Claude asked.

"Go after Caleb. Two of you moving might crack the ice some more."

"What a bunch of idiots."

"_Wah!_" Jamie whirled around.

A white haired boy stared at Jamie with huge eyes.

"Who are you?" Jamie asked.

"Who's there?" Claude tilted his head very slightly from left to right, trying to look around Jamie without disturbing the pond's fault lines.

"You can see me?" the boy asked.

Jamie looked at the tall, frost covered staff the boy propped on his shoulder.

"Can I use that?" Jamie asked. "To pull my friends off the pond?"

"Who are you talking to?" Claude asked.

Jamie stepped to the side so Claude could see.

"I don't see anyone."

"He can't see me," the boy said. "Only you can."

"Wha-what are you talking about?"

"Don't talk to me right now. Your friends probably think you're a loony."

The boy walked past Jamie. As he walked past, Jamie felt the cold emitted from his body.

"Act like you can't see me. It's for your own good." The boy walked onto the pond. Where his feet touched, bursts of frost shot across the surface. He walked to Claude and lowered the hooked part of his staff to the ice. Frost blossomed across the cracks.

"Oh snap!" Claude scurried backwards. "What's that?"

"Your savoir." The boy walked to Caleb who had gone still.

He frosted a path from Caleb to the shore.

"Tell them to stand up."

"Stand up now," Jamie said, wonder coating his every word.

"Tell them to walk on the frost."

"Walk on the frost."

The twins got to their feet and skated slowly to shore, keeping their balance centered.

When both boys were safely on shore, they dropped on their bottoms.

"That was terrifying," Caleb said.

"Forget YOLO. I don't wanna die," Claude said.

"Never doing that again," Caleb breathed.

"Never," Claude confirmed.

Neither of the twins noticed the white haired boy walking toward them.

"Go home," the boy said. "I'll follow, and then we're going to talk."

"Okay."

"Okay what?" Caleb asked.

"Let's go home." Jamie distributed the flashlights to the brothers. "It's getting dark, and our parents might be getting worried."

The twins traded their skates for snow boots, slipped on their backpacks, and then headed down the path to town.

The white haired boy followed them.

"Who'd you see?" Claude asked.

"I thought I saw someone," Jamie said.

"Boy or girl?"

"A boy."

"What'd he look like?"

"Well…" Jamie looked at the boy in question.

The boy shrugged. "Tell them what you want."

Claude and Caleb looked back too.

"What?" Caleb asked.

"Thought I heard something. Well, he had white hair and was wearing a blue sweater with snow on it."

"Frost," the boy said.

"I mean frost. And he had brown pants that were ripped and also had frost. He had this long staff with a hook and he was barefoot."

"My feet would freeze off if I went barefoot," Caleb said and looked down at his warm feet.

"He sounds like a fairy," Claude said.

"Excuse me? A _fairy_?" The boy breezed in front of the boys. He walked backwards. "I'm not a _fairy_. If you want to call me anything, call me a sprite. Better yet, call me Jack Frost."

"Jack Frost?" Jamie said.

"You saw _Jack Frost_?" Claude furrowed his eyebrows. "He doesn't exist."

Jack sucked in a corner of his mouth. His eyes traveled across Claude's face as if he was trying to figure something out.

"I believe he does."

Jack's eyes snapped to Jamie. He grinned, showing off his sparkling snow white teeth, and winked.

"I don't."

Jack rolled his eyes, grin falling, and stopped walking. Claude walked right past him.

"The things I do to get noticed," Jack mused. "So far only one kid can see me. _One kid._ And it's been 300 years! What am I doing wrong?"

Jamie sighed. "Let's walk faster."

"You don't think he's following us, do you?" Claude looked back.

Jamie wondered if Claude could see Jack now, but when Claude returned forward, he showed no sign of spotting the white haired boy.

"You don't believe in Jack Frost," Caleb said.

"But I feel like someone's following us. I keep getting chills."

Jack laughed. "That's what you get for being a jerk."

"Maybe Jack Frost is nipping at you," Jamie said.

"Sure as hell I am," Jack grumbled. "Oops. Pardon my language."

#

If the twins' parents were worried, they didn't look it. They invited Jamie in for dinner; he politely declined and said he had a guest waiting at home.

"So you're Jack Frost," Jamie said as they walked to his home.

"The one and only."

Jamie looked up at Jack. "Are you in charge of winter?"

"Not completely. The seasons are all natural, but I have control over winter elements."

"Cool. Literally."

Jack smirked, icy blue eyes sparkling at Jamie. "Do you know why you can see me?"

"Do you know?"

"It's because you believe in me. You believe I exist."

"Can I only see you? Or can I touch you?"

"You can touch me."

Jamie tentatively poked Jack's arm. "You're cold."

"Duh."

"My friends couldn't see you," Jamie said, "because they don't believe in you."

"True. It's a shame. I was pretty much breathing down their necks."

"Maybe you should throw snowballs at them."

Jack shook his head. "People get paranoid when I do that."

"Like me?"

"I need to let loose once in a while, and you were so frightened that I couldn't help myself. You make yourself a target, you know?"

Jamie bit his lip. "Yeah. I do."

Jack watched Jamie's face quietly. His expression changed from amused to curious to concerned. Jamie noticed that Jack's eyes changed shades with his emotions.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. Just your classic bully down the street."

"I don't think that's a classic, but I can see why you're a target. You look easy."

"Easy?"

"You look insecure. You kind of curl in on yourself. See here." Jack patted Jamie's shoulder. "Straighten your back."

Jamie did.

"That's better. You need to look more confident."

Jamie managed to keep a straight back all the way home.

"My room's kind of messy, so don't be surprised." Jamie held the door open for Jack.

"Don't worry. I don't mind."

"I'm home!" Jamie called out.

No one answered.

"My mom's probably grocery shopping." Jamie led Jack down a short hall to his bedroom.

Jaime's room was small and crowded with stuffed toys and books. Posters and drawings were taped on all four walls, including the closet door. There was a lot going on, but there was an order to everything. The toys were lined up on Jamie's bed-shelf and on the wall shelves. A small bookshelf next to the edge of the bed was packed with paperbacks and a few hardcovers. The occasional toy was stuffed in the spaces above the books, some laid against the spines.

Jack tilted his head and scanned the bookshelf. Jamie watched Jack make his way to a particular book. His eyes moved past it, and then a confused look crossed his face. He returned to the previous book.

He straightened his head and then wiggled the fat book out of its tight space. "_Twilight_?" he said.

"It's a gift from a friend," Jamie said with a blush. "But I think she was joking."

"Did you read it?"

"No. I don't want to read about sparkling vampires and I don't like romance."

Jack held the book up. "Want me to freeze it?"

"Do it!" Jamie's eyes brightened with glee.

Frost spread from Jack's fingertips to the cover. Jamie watched with engrossed interest as the ridged designs in the frost swirled with the movement. The book was soon coated in a fine layer of frost. Jack increased the thickness of the frost, and another layer spread.

Jamie held his breath as the red of the cover's apple dulled to a faint tint. When the frost stopped spreading, Jamie couldn't see the title or the outline of the cover image.

"Ta-dah." Jack held the book out to Jamie.

Jamie took it, gloves protecting his skin from most of the cold. He gaped at its beauty.

"I wonder what hipsters would make of it," Jack wondered.

"Anyone would call this beautiful. Did you make the designs or are they natural?"

"I can influence them, but that's all natural. It's my signature pattern."

Jamie ran a finger over the frost ridges. He could feel the sharp precision, as if Jack had created them with the finest of crafting tools.

"Will it melt?"

"Not as long as I keep it from doing so."

Jamie put the frozen book on his bed and sat next to it. He motioned for Jack to join him. Jack rested his staff against the wall between Jamie's bed and the bookshelf.

"You wanted to talk?" Jamie said.

Jack leaned back on his hands. "How long have you believed in me?"

"I don't know. Always I think."

"Why? What made you believe in me?"

Jamie tried to think of a reason, but nothing came to mind besides for it feeling natural. "I don't know. It just makes sense to believe in you."

"That's not what the other kids say. They just believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy-"

"The Sandman and the Groundhog and the Gingerbread Man," Jamie said.

"-plus the Boogeyman."

"The Boogeyman?" Jamie furrowed his eyebrows. "He _exists_?"

Jack sat up. "You don't believe in him?"

"Yeah, but I was hoping I was wrong." Jamie shivered from a sudden chill, not from of Jack's chilly presence.

"Everything exists, but it depends on how much belief you put into it."

"Slenderman exists?" Jamie's eyes bugged open.

"Don't think about it." Jack patted Jamie's shoulder. "Too much thought will lead to false beliefs – or whatever that is – and who knows? He might pop in here tonight."

"Shut up!" Jamie jumped from the bed. "Don't say that!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Jack held his hands up. "I was just joking."

"_Does_ he exist?"

"I don't know. I've never seen him."

"That's 'cause you're not supposed to!" Jamie gripped his hair and tugged hard.

"Ouch. Don't tug too hard. Bald spots aren't attractive."

Jamie dropped back on his bed, hair still gripped tightly. "He's not real. He's not real." If he repeated it enough, maybe he'd believe in it.

"Jeez, kid, if you're really spooked about it, I can stay the night."

Jamie peeked up. "Really? You can stay? Can you stay and be my bodyguard?"

"If you want. I haven't settled down for a while, and it'd be nice to have some rest. I usually take a nap on a park bench or a rooftop or a tree branch. Sometimes that pond you and your friends went skating. That's the first place I remember."

Jamie wasn't sure if Jack wanted to explain; he looked out of it, mind in another place, reliving a memory. For a while Jack sat there, leaning forward as he gazed somewhere Jamie couldn't see.

"How'd you become Jack Frost?" Jamie asked, feeling irritatingly loud in the small room.

"I don't know. For the longest time I thought I was created to be Jack Frost." Jack's voice was soft, distant. "But now I'm told that I had a normal life. I used to be human. I had a life before I became Jack Frost."

"But you don't remember?"

"Tooth – I was told that my memories are elsewhere. I can't get them because I'm not ready." He huffed angrily. "300 years and I'm not ready. Bullsh – sorry."

"It's okay. You can curse if you want to. I hear a lot more at school."

Jack's eyes brightened to a faint blue. "Kids nowadays are exposed to so more than back then. You know, 'sucks' used to be as bad as the f-bomb? Like if you said 'that sucks', people would gasp like you had said the craziest thing."

"How long ago was that?"

"A _really_ long time. I don't remember, but it was definitely more than a decade ago."

"If you've been around for 300 years, did you see the American Revolution?"

"I know who fired the shot heard 'round the world."

"_Who did it?_" Jamie leaned in.

"Would you believe me if I said it was me?"

"No… You didn't."

"It wasn't me. I wasn't even there. I think I was trying to break into Santa's workshop during that time."

"You know Santa?" Jamie could feel energy strumming through his veins. "Do you also know the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy?"

Jack nodded, pleased at Jamie's obvious interest. "Don't forget the Sandman."

Jamie gaped. He waited for Jack to say he was kidding.

"O-M-G, right?" Jack smirked.

"_O-M-freaking-G!_" Jamie launched himself at Jack, clutching the neck of his sweater. "Am I on the Naughty List? Does the Tooth Fairy have _all_ my teeth and does the Sandman know what dreams I like?"

"Woah there kiddo!" Jack gently pushed Jamie back. "Slow down."

"I'm sorry but do you know how many times I've imagined meeting them? _Can_ I meet them?"

Jack straightened his hoodie out. He figured Sandy and North wouldn't mind, neither would Tooth. But Bunny? Jack didn't think the pooka would appreciate a human in his warren. He practically threw a fit when Jack dipped his toes in the eggs' coloring lake. "Tainting nature," Bunny had hissed, tugging on his ears as if he wanted to tear them off. "You're tainting it! Take out your bloody foot!"

"I'd have to ask," Jack said, and then at the diminishing sparkle in Jamie's eyes, "but I'm sure some of them would love to meet you. You're the first kid to actually see me, so…"

A door clicked unlocked and then opened. "I'm home!" Jamie's mom called. The door shut. "Jamie?" she called.

"I'm home!"

"How was the playdate?" Her voice grew louder, boots echoing on the wood floor as she approached. She peeped into the room. "Did you have fun with your friends?"

"Yeah."

"What'd you do?"

"We played in the park."

"That's good." She pulled her gloves off. "I'm making spaghetti for dinner. Sound good?"

Jamie nodded. "Just call me when it's done."

"You're not going to help your mother?" She made a pouty face.

Jack laughed. "Your mom's cute."

"Ew." Jamie wrinkled his nose. Then he realized it could be geared towards his mother as well. "I mean, sure! I'll help! I said 'ew' 'cause I thought I smelled something weird. Like a skunky smell."

"You're making it worse," said Jack. "Go help your mom."

"I'll help you after I change into my PJs."

"Okay…"

When she left, Jamie turned to Jack, a question on the tip of his tongue.

"I won't leave. I'll just chill in here, no pun."

"Okay!" Jamie quickly swapped his outerwear for soft nightwear. "You can look around if you want, just don't freeze anything or make a mess."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

* * *

Jack couldn't keep himself from poking through Jamie's belongings. He flipped through several of Jamie's books, getting a good refresher of what old books smelled like. Jamie had a few literature classics at the bottom of his bookshelf. Jack was almost certain Jamie didn't have the literate attitude to understand them. It seemed like all the classics lined along the right side of the shelf hadn't been opened in a while. Jamie could have been stashing them for future use.

In pulling out _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_, Jack dislodged a small stuffed bear. He dusted it off and saw that it had been patched up along the seam of its left leg with a square of flower fabric. He replaced the book and the bear, realization dawning on him.

He hadn't noticed it before in his surprise at being seen for the first time by a human, but now he could see clearly that Jamie's room wasn't full of quality items. The posters on his walls were printed on printer paper, the toys worn and stitched back together, the paperback books had wrinkled spines and the hardbacks had no covers, and the bed's comforter looked faded of its blue color. Jack opened the closet the door and looked through the many clothes Jamie had hanging. He pulled out the sleeve of a long-sleeve shirt that had frayed edges. Behind that shirt was another shirt with a tear in the hem. At the floor of the closet were a few pairs of shoes. All were well worn.

Jack closed the door. Taped at eye level was a printed photo of Jamie's mother and a man standing side by side, standing between them a younger Jamie. Behind them were an ocean and a clear sky.

He pressed a finger against Jamie's beaming face. He looked more than happy, as if he had everything he wanted. The man must be his father. Jamie looked like a younger version of the man, but he had hazel eyes instead of the man's green ones and lighter hair.

Jack thought of his own family, the one he didn't remember. He curled his hand into a fist, nails biting into his palm. He sat on Jamie's bed heavily. North had said that Jack wasn't fit for his memories. Who was he to tell Jack that he wasn't _fit_ for his memories? North only knew Jack as the naughty boy who pulled pranks just for the thrill of causing chaos. He didn't know about the core of Jack's actions. Jack did everything for attention, for the hopes that his elaborate wintery pranks would indicate his existence. What were the chances of a frost patch suddenly appearing under someone's feet? None! Unless if one counted on a supernatural being: Jack Frost.

Jack stretched out on Jamie's bed, curling on his side. The blanket was cold to the touch. It didn't bother him; he thrived on cold. He thought of his past life. He must have had a bed like this before. Not as modern looking, but just as warm. He closed his eyes and tried to think back to when he was still human. Of course, he had no memories of the time, but if he looked back hard enough, maybe he'd find a sliver of his past.

Nothing appeared in the darkness behind his closed eyes. He huffed and clawed his hands into Jamie's pillow. All three hundred years of his existence, he'd been someone. He'd been a human before Jack Frost. For three centuries he thought he was created for a purpose yet to be defined.

He rolled onto his side, both hands under the pillow. He favored this position when he rested after a long day's work of frost and snow. Jack wondered if he was a side sleeper as human.

Sounds of pots clinking, a stove clicking on, and voices drifted into the room. A sink turned on full blast, and Jamie's mother shrieked, "_Jamie!_ The floor's wet!" Jamie apologized, but not after giggling.

Three hundred years ago, Jack had a family. He had a mother, a father, a sibling or two or three or even four. They all got along, cooking together as a family, preparing the dining table while battling over who got their table place set up and their bottom seated the quickest. Three hundred years to this date, they'd all huddle in front of the fireplace, sharing funny stories while their dog/cat sat in front.

How wonderful it would be if that was true. But if it was, Jack would have a hell of a time getting over the life taken away much too soon. Then there was the fear of what happened post-death. Did his family carry on without ever recovering or did they die with Jack in a horrific accident?

Jack didn't want to think about how off his predictions could be. Maybe the Guardians didn't want to give his memories back because he was better off thinking he had a loving family; three centuries ago, he was a neglected child.

"Why can't I have them back?" he had asked Tooth.

She had looked down at the floor, the three of her accompanying mini-fairies crestfallen.

"You are not fit to receive them," North had answered in her place.

"Why not?"

And North had only shaken his head.

"Were they traumatic?"

North had firmly grabbed Jack's shoulders, leaned down, and looked into his eyes. "You are not _fit_ to receive them. The time will come when you are ready. But now it is best for you to-"

"Screw you," Jack had spat and twisted his shoulders free.

"I splashed water on the ground and spilled some of the noodles," Jamie said after shutting the door quietly behind him. "Are you sleeping on my bed?"

"It's comfy," Jack said, rolling onto his back and sitting up, gesturing for Jamie to sit with him. "What's your mom's job?"

"She's a bookstore clerk and an author and an artist."

"Does she sell a lot of her books and artwork?"

Jamie shrugged and then furrowed his eyebrows, like he hadn't given it thought before. "She doesn't tell me how much she sells, but it probably isn't much. You can kind of tell we're not that rich." Jamie gestured at his room unhappily. "We don't go shopping much. When we do, we buy things on sale."

"What about your dad?" Jack asked.

"My dad's dead."

Jack stared blankly at Jamie, unable to form any rational response that wouldn't make him seem like the dozens of people who offered "I'm sorry" like they had anything to do with it. "How'd he go?" he asked, and then reprimanded himself for sounding ignorant.

"He's not officially dead." Jamie hunched forward, stuffing his hands in his lap. "He disappeared three years ago. Just _poof_ on Christmas Eve. Mom said he was going out to get food for Christmas morning. He never came back. Actually, he never left. His car was still in the garage."

"That must be tough," Jack said. "Does your mom think he's dead?"

"She never said so, but probably. She doesn't like talking about things like death. I think he's dead, but there's always a feeling that he's still alive."

"Hope."

"Yeah… Maybe he ran away and got a makeover to start a new life. He seemed pretty happy before he disappeared, but he could've been pretending. He did theater in school and flew around the country to be in movies. He's not an extra, but he's not a movie star. He was climbing up the ranks though."

"You don't sound very…"

"Upset?"

"You're not bursting into tears either."

"It doesn't feel like he's dead. I know he's most likely dead. There's almost no chance he's alive." Jamie touched his chest, where his heart was. "But it feels like he's just taking a vacation."

"A really long vacation."

Jamie grinned. "A really, really long one. And he'll bring souvenirs home."

"I can look for him."

"_Can you?_"

Jamie's eyes had the same wide-eyed-wonder look as when he first saw Jack use his frost powers. Jack hated to watch the sparkle in that wonder fizzle out, so he didn't tell Jamie of the nearly nonexistent possibility of success.

Jack shrugged. Maybe by a sweet twist of fate, he'd locate Jamie's father. And if fate was kind enough, maybe Jamie's father would gladly return to his family. Jack's maybe's had a history of turning into no's. This would turn up as another no. He hated to admit it even to himself. Jamie was the first child to directly interact with him. Jack wanted to please him, show him how great Jake Frost was, how he wasn't an enemy of Santa or a horrifying snowman.

"I travel all around the world. Most of it… But I'll keep my eyes open and who knows? Maybe I'll find him."

"Tell him to come home!"

"He can't see me."

"Maybe he believes in you!"

"Nobody believes in me, except you."

"Maybe other people saw you, but you didn't notice them or they didn't realize you were Jack Frost."

Oh how Jack wished that was true. "Fat chance of that," he laughed.

Jamie stretched his legs out. A pant leg rode up, exposing an ugly bruise. It looked like it had just started to discolor.

"What happened?" Jack pointed at the discoloration.

"What? This?" Jamie lifted his leg. "I banged my shin against the sidewalk curb yesterday."

"You fell?"

"Shoved to the ground actually."

"Bully down the street?"

Jamie nodded. "But it's okay. His family probably treats him like trash."

"So it's okay for him to take his anger out on you?" Jack tried to look into Jamie's eyes. Jamie was avoiding his gaze by tilting his head down and to the side. "Look at me. _Jamie_, look at me."

Jamie tentatively looked at Jack.

"He might have it bad at home, but that doesn't give him the right to make your life bad."

"But what if it's really bad?"

"Do you _know_ how bad it is? Do you even know if his family life _is_ bad?"

"Not really… But what if it is? What if they beat him up and call him names?"

Jack wondered if that was _his_ past three hundred years ago. Would he want his memories back?

"How often does this kid shove you around?"

"Not a lot. He teases me more than pushes me around." Jamie smoothed his pants back over his leg. "And it doesn't that much. He doesn't punch or kick."

"It's still bullying."

Jamie nodded somberly. "But I want to help him." His head shot up, eyes suddenly full of light. "You can help!" He jumped to his knees, making the bed bounce. "You can find out how his family treats him! No one can see you, obviously, and – _I'm sorry!_" Jamie pressed his knuckles to his mouth. "I didn't mean it like that."

It stung, but not too much. "It's alright. I'm used to it. The Easter Bunny gives me hell for it."

"That's not nice," Jamie said and frowned. "The Easter Bunny's supposed to be nice."

"Yeah, well that's just him on his good days." Jack thought back to the night Bunny was uncharacteristically kind to him. "And when he's on a guilt trip. Back to your bully problem, I can help with that. I can't get in his house, but I can peak through windows and follow his family outside."

Jamie stretched his arms out wide. "You're the best!"

Jack stared at Jamie's spread arms. "Um…"

"It's a hug."

"Oh." Jack spread his own arms out. Jamie closed the space and squeezed hard until Jack thought he heard his ribs crack. "You're gonna break my ribs."

"Sorry." Jamie loosened his hold. "You're kind of warm. Like, you're freezing cold but there's something there that's also warm."

Jack patted Jamie's back. "Okay buddy. Are you going to let go or am I a body pillow?"

"Sorry…" Jamie pulled away. "So do you wanna check out Jeremiah's family and stuff?"

"The bully?"

"Yeah. I don't know his brothers' names, but I think one starts with a _d_. They're five houses to the right of mine. They might be home right now, so if you wanna check it out you can go. I have to eat dinner later and there's not much for you to do."

"I could poke around your house a bit – hey, do you have a photo of your dad I can keep? A recent one?"

Jamie pulled a large shoe box out from under his bed. Inside were tall stacks of glossy photos. He shuffled through one of the stacks and then pulled out a photo. It was of his father smiling in front of a lit Christmas tree, carrying a starry eyed Jamie in a piggy-back hold. "This is the newest one. It was when we finished decorating the tree." He held it out to Jack. "I have duplicates of this, and my mom has a digital copy so it's okay."

"Good; I was going to ask if you had a different one." Jack pocketed the photo.

"Jamie! Can you set the table?" Jamie's mother called out.

"Coming!" Jamie shouted. "You can go out the window." Jamie opened the window wide enough for Jack to crawl through.

After Jack was out Jamie whispered, "Remember where it is?"

"Five houses to the right."

Jamie smiled. "Good luck."

#

"What the heck am I doing?" Jack asked himself as he sat on the back patio.

The only windows open and with a decent amount of light were the ones facing the backyard. They opened into the dining room and living room.

The family of five was seated at the table, sipping from bowls of chicken soup and munching on saltine crackers. There were two nice-looking parents and three sons. The eldest looked to be around Jack's age. The second eldest looked to be in the late years of middle school. The youngest looked like he was around Jamie's age. The youngest had to be Jeremiah. If not, then what were teenagers doing with shoving little kids around?

Everything looked fine. A family enjoying dinner together, laughing as they talked. None of the kids looked like bullies either. Jeremiah looked out the window, straight at Jack.

Jack held in his breath. Maybe Jeremiah could see him?

Jeremiah showed no signs of having seen Jack. He smiled softly, eyes becoming hazy as if deep in a pleasant thought, and then returned to his soup.

Jamie thought Jeremiah had a bad life?

The eldest brother kicked Jeremiah's shin and smirked.

Maybe there was something going on behind the scenes.

Jeremiah smirked back and returned the kick, but hit air when his brother swung his leg out of the way. Jeremiah kicked a few more times, missing just as much.

"Boys!" Their mother warned. She gave them death glare only a well experienced mother could give.

Jeremiah pointed at his brother, grinning wide. Jack could read his lips. "He started it!"

The father rolled his eyes and hid a smile around the spoon in his mouth.

"I wish I had that," Jack said as Jamie's other brother spat a green pea across the table. It rolled next to Jeremiah's placemat.

Jeremiah flicked it back. It shot across the table and fell to the ground. The mother sighed and bowed her head in defeat.

"Frosty!" the eldest brother shouted.

A small Maltese bounded into the dining room. He snatched the pea into his mouth.

The eldest brother said something that made the family chuckle.

"Jamie's totally wrong," Jack said. "Or maybe I have the wrong family."

Jack counted out the houses again. He hadn't made a mistake. Maybe Jamie had been the one to make a mistake. He checked out the rest of the houses on the block. Of the ones he could see in, none had three sons. One had two sons and one daughter, another had just one son, and the last one Jack checked had one daughter.

Jack returned to the house with the three sons. Jeremiah was the first boy leave the dining table. Jack flew to the second level when one of the windows lit up. He squatted on the small window balcony and peered into Jeremiah's room.

It was well furnished, a contrast to Jamie's room. The posters on the wall looked store-bought and the wooden furniture looked polished and unmarred. Jeremiah even had his own computer.

"It's like two different worlds."

Jeremiah opened the top right drawer on his bed frame and pulled out a journal and pen. He flipped through pages of handwritten text until he reached an unfinished page. He settled on his bed comfortably. He scratched his eyebrow with the end of the pen and then started to write.

"This guy a bully? No way."

Jack watched Jeremiah write for a few minutes, waiting for any abnormal traits to reveal themselves.

After a few minutes, Jack decided to head back to Jamie's. He was about to leap over the balcony's railings when Jeremiah's eldest brother walked in.

Jeremiah was startled into looking up. He snapped something at his brother, but his brother only laughed.

Jack resettled himself on the balcony and strained his ears, but couldn't hear anything exchanged between the brothers.

Jeremiah sat up, bringing his journal to his chest as if he wanted to hide it from his brother. His brother raised his brows and said something short, but angering. Jeremiah flung the pen at his head.

Jeremiah's shout was dulled by the window.

"Something's happening," Jack said.

Jeremiah's brother raised his hands up. He said something that made Jeremiah slam his journal shut and angrily stash it under his pillow. He spoke with sharp gestures of his hands, his body practically vibrating.

For a while they spoke and the tension seemed to loosen up. Jeremiah pulled his journal out and his brother tossed his pen back. Jeremiah started up his writing again, this time with quick scratches of words. His brother sat at the foot of his bed. Jeremiah backed up, not halting in his writing, until his back was to the wall.

His brother's face lacked its fun expression. He was talking about something serious, judging from the steadiness and sharpness of his eyes. He said something and shook his head, seemed to say the same thing, shook his head again, and then repeated it multiple times in a row with slow shakes of his head.

Meanwhile Jeremiah was also shaking his head slowly, but in refusal or disinclination.

It seemed that his brother was trying to convince him of something that Jeremiah struggled against or with.

"I wish I could get the window open." Jack tapped the window. A flower of frost blossomed.

Jeremiah was left alone pretty soon after his brother's talk. He was still scribbling in his journal, but the gestures of his hands didn't look like he was writing. It looked like he was doodling.

Jack couldn't tell what Jeremiah was drawing since the boy's body blocked his view of the journal. He frosted another flower on the window, and then left.

#

Jack waited outside Jamie's window until he was let in. He tossed his staff onto Jamie's bed. "Success."

"What did you see?" Jamie crawled onto his bed, taking care to avoid touching the staff. "Do they treat him good?"

"I saw their dinner. They looked like a happy family. Joking around and throwing food."

"Throwing food?"

"It was just a green bean, but that's not the point. How old is this Jeremiah kid?"

Jamie had it at the top of his head. "Thirteen."

"_Thirteen?_ He's _thirteen_? He looks like he's your age!"

"He's like me. We both look young for our ages. I'm ten, but I look like I'm eight or seven. He's thirteen but he looks like he's ten." Jamie shrugged.

"Does he have black hair and blue eyes?"

Jamie nodded.

"Okay. I was thinking that I got the wrong house since the family looked so happy… Except for when Jeremiah went to his room. He wrote in this journal, and then his oldest brother came in and said something that freaked him out. They talked – well, his brother talked and he just wrote in his journal. I think it was about something serious. His brother left, and he doodled in his journal."

Jamie looked lost. Now Jack was sure he had gotten the wrong house, even if his description of Jeremiah was confirmed by Jamie.

"Are you serious?"

"Unless if I was hallucinating, that's what I saw."

Jamie looked down at the staff lying in front of him. He poked at it, and then seeing that it had no effect on him, ran his finger along its ridges. "If his family's nice, then maybe there's something bothering him."

"Looks like. His brother was talking about something that made him chuck a pen at his head, and scream. He was even twitching, like he was having a spasm attack."

"Hmmm…. Wonder what it is."

"I'll keep an eye on him - and an eye out for your dad."

Jamie looked up at him and smiled. "You're really nice."

"Only to you. I'm a jerk to most people."

"You mean Santa and the others?"

"They count as people – sort of." Jack sat backwards on Jamie's desk chair, resting his hands and chin on the backrest. "Want to hear about a prank I pulled on the Easter Bunny?"

"You pulled a prank on him?" Jamie's interest peaked immediately.

Jack grinned, remembering the frost covered eggs that had children complaining to their parents. "You'll need some background info first. His real name's Bunnymund, but he's called Bunny for short. His home is the Warren. It's underground, and it's connected to all continents of the world by tunnels…"

#

It was half past ten and Jamie was snoozing under his blankets, a stuffed bunny held against his chest. A dreamsand version of Jamie playing with a dog that startling resembled Frosty floated above his head. Jack watched the blankets rise and fall in time with Jamie's breathing.

"Wow," he breathed, still seated on the desk's chair. "My first believer. Un-freaking-believable."

Jamie scrunched his face up and rolled onto his other side.

Jack couldn't put a name to the feeling pooled in his chest. Was it pride? Wonder? Longing for something more? This was a great start, he knew. He had one true believer, and one was enough. To finally have someone to talk to who wasn't a rabbit or a hummingbird-human hybrid was a pleasure Jack couldn't describe properly. It was like something inside of him had started ticking, and it wasn't until now that he realized it had stopped working.

Tomorrow he'd make it another snow day and Jamie would have more winter fun. Jack could peg Jeremiah with a blue snowball or two.

He rested his head against his hands, looking out the window. Jamie had left the curtains open so Jack could keep an eye out for intruders, specifically Slenderman. Jack knew Slenderman wasn't someone to worry about. There was another black clad man who needed to be looked out for.

Jack closed his eyes and listened to the soft breaths of Jamie. His first believer. He kept repeating that to himself, awed and inspired to be a great friend of Jamie's.

When he opened his eyes the first thing he noticed was the soft glow of Jamie's nightlight. The second thing he noticed was the face in the window.

"Pitch," he gasped.

He blinked and the grinning face was gone.

Should he wake Jamie? Should he close the curtains? Pretend nothing happened? He'd report it to North as soon as he could. He couldn't leave Jamie alone.

"Good evening, Jack."

Jack whirled to face the doorway, staff already aimed at Pitch's head.

* * *

**A/N: **Chapter is not beta'd. Reviews? I'm really curious about what you have to say. I write this not only for myself, but for those of you who want to read fanfiction. I have an idea of where this will go, and Jeremiah plays a key role.

For a future one-shot (possible multi-chapter story), what do you guys think of a Jamie/Jack romance? It would take place years after the movie, so Jamie would be around seventeen.

It's my headcanon that Jamie and Jack stay in touch after the movie events and become extremely close friends. So for Jamie to devlop feelings for Jack... Thoughts? Please?

Oh, and cliffhanger because I haven't written one in such a long time.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

Jamie was still asleep, despite the racket Jack had made when he leapt off his chair. He checked on the sleeping boy, trying to piece together quickly the pros and cons and waking him up. If he saw Pitch, he'd lose his trust in Jack. Jack _did_ say he'd be a bodyguard for the night, even if he said it to calm Jamie down from his little panic attack of the Slenderman's (possible) existence. If Jamie stayed asleep, his dreams were exposed to Pitch for manipulation. Jack knew the nightmares Pitch could dish out. And on Jamie, Jack's first believer, Pitch would have no mercy.

Pitch stepped into the room, arms folded behind his back and eyes checking the room like a parent would. "There's an antique look to this room," Pitch said as he smiled at the stuffed animals stashed on the bookshelf. "A little pitiful, nevertheless touching." He plucked the patched up bear. "Once upon a time, children had their mothers stitch together toys. Now they're manufactured thousands of miles away by machines." He tightened his grip on the bear. "However this doesn't appear to have been stitched entirely by hand." He put the bear back on the shelf.

Jack kept his staff held at the ready. He followed Pitch's unhurried path through the bedroom to the desk. He circled around, never lowering his eyes. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a voice coated with unsaid threats.

Pitch gave him an amused and brief glance. "To congratulate you of course." He studied the schoolwork covering the desk. "Jamie Bennett," he read from a name line. "Your first believer."

"Cut to it. What are you really doing here?"

Pitch straightened up quickly. Jack jumped back.

"I did come to congratulate you – and to educate you on the importance of this young boy." Pitch fastened his sight on Jamie and took a step in his direction. Jack's stepped in his way, staff inches from his nose. It glowed a faint blue, frost emanating from its hook.

Pitch's nose twitched. He batted the staff away. "Put that down before you poke my eyes out."

Jack swung it at Pitch's head, but the Boogeyman disappeared in a burst of shadows. He reappeared in the same place a moment later, gripping the staff's hook.

"You wouldn't want to wake him, would you? Damage his bedroom? I don't think so." He chuckled at the room. "Not when his family can barely afford to put dinner on the table."

Jack tried to sneakily test Pitch's grip on his staff. It was a solid hold, and Pitch sighed at Jack's attempt to disguise his effort.

"How does it feel to be finally be seen?" Pitch asked. "Wonderful? Like everything is rainbows and unicorns?"

"Let it go." Jack tugged on his staff harder.

"You may feel all levels of euphoria inside, but being a Guardian is much more than getting dedicated fans."

"I'm not a Guardian," Jack snarled, "and I never will be."

"You _are_ a Guardian, Jack. You just haven't taken the Oath I presume."

"I'm _not_ taking the Oath, and I'm _not_ a Guardian." Jack put his back into tugging at his staff. "Let go!"

Pitch hummed. "So weak." He slipped his grip down the staff and grabbed further down its length, past Jack's two-handed hold. He stepped into Jack's personal space, the staff the only thing separating their chests. Silver-gold eyes blazed into Jack's. "Guardians have a duty to protect the children, and you do nothing of that sort. Your precious MiM must be too high for his own good to have chosen you."

He twisted the staff out free and then conked Jack's head. "Stay put."

Black sand bound his feet and hands together. "Jami-!" A gag of sand covered his mouth. He tried to hobble but tripped and fell on his face.

"Shush. You might wake him." Pitch held a finger to his lips. "I can't; he doesn't believe in me. _DO YOU?_"

Jamie continued to sleep.

Jack struggled to his knees. He tried to worm over to Jamie, but a coil of black sand tied his feet to his hands and forced him to curl into himself.

"There are generally two methods to get believers." Pitch stood at the head of Jamie's bed, addressing Jack like he was a difficult student. "First is through word of mouth. For example, parents tell their children about Santa and sugarcoat his bribes for good behavior. Second is through evidence. Children may be gullible, but you need proof that he exists."

He motioned at the dream sand Jamie and dog. "Here's an example of the second method." He poked the golden figure of the dog.

Jack's cry was muffled in his gag.

The dog halted in its steps to fetch a ball. It whined and scratched at its ear where black sand was spreading. Sand Jamie patted his legs, not noticing the corruption. The dog's body started to mutilate, morphing into a large dog with three heads. It snarled and snapped its jaws. Sand Jamie ran, and the dog gave chase. They sprinted in circles, Jamie never losing distance and the dog never gaining distance.

"The Circle of Fear!" Pitch applauded. "Bravo! Bravo! This is a common path for nightmares involving getting chased. They never get over their fears. There's no end."

Jamie rolled onto his other side, face twisted in a grimace. He groaned and kicked a leg out from his blankets. He buried his face into his pillow.

"More than often, you need to follow up the proof. Young Jamie here will think of the nightmare as a coincidence. I don't have time for a visit tomorrow. There are larger dreams to taint." Pitch tapped sand Jamie. "Let's intensify this."

Jack tried biting through the gag, but the sand adapted to his movements.

Sand Jamie tripped. He didn't fall, but his ankle was sprained. He still ran, but his form was choppy. The dog gained on him.

"What if the dog caught up and poor Jamie didn't wake up? That would be one terrible nightmare." Pitch shuddered. "And for a child as young as him?" He touched sand Jamie again.

Jamie whimpered into his pillow. His hands clawed into his pillow and he scissored his legs as if he was trying to run. His stuffed bunny fell off of the bed.

Sand Jamie fell. He flopped onto his back as the dog approached with all three jaws open.

Both Jamie and sand Jamie cowered into a ball.

The dog pounced.

Jamie bolted awake with a gasp.

"Can you see me?" Pitch asked.

Jamie took a few breaths and then smiled. "Nightmare," he told Jack.

The black sand dissolved into the air. Jack smiled through the ache left by the gag. "Must be because you dropped this." He crawled to the fallen bunny, taking extreme care to act like the Boogeyman wasn't standing right next to it.

"Going to act like I'm not here?" Pitch laughed. "That's quite rude." He stepped on the bunny, planting it to the floor.

Jack flicked his eyes to give Pitch the longest glare he dare give without giving Jamie the notion that something wasn't right. Jack grabbed the bunny's arm extending from the black sole of Pitch's foot.

"What's wrong? Can't seem to get it free?" Pitch mocked.

"Jack?" Jamie asked.

"Um, I had a flashback."

"Lying, Jack? Very naughty." Pitch tsked.

"Of your past?" Jamie started to grin.

"I wish. I just remember seeing a bunny like this in a stroller."

Pitch took his foot off the bunny and backed away. He still had Jack's staff in his possession.

Jack grabbed the bunny and tossed it up to Jamie. "Try not to lose it again," he chided flippantly.

"Try not to lose this again, _Jack_." Pitch threw the staff at Jack.

"_Woah!_" Jamie flinched backwards. "Where'd that _come from_?"

"From me, but you still can't see me. I ought to swarm you with nightmares. Let's see how that goes." Pitch reached for Jamie's head.

"_NO!_" Jack blasted a torrent of frost at Pitch.

Pitch disappeared in a burst of black sand. Frost exploded across Jamie's window. The sand swirled around Jack and then reformed into Pitch at Jamie's bedroom door.

"You can't keep me hidden forever," Pitch sneered. He disappeared just as Jack sent a second frost torrent. It hit the doorknob and encased it in a messy ice case.

Jack flung his staff to the ground. A scream built in his throat.

"Jack?" Jamie was pressed into the corner of the wall, gripping his blankets to his chest with trembling hands. "What happened?"

"_You can't keep me hidden forever."_

Jack kicked his staff to his hands and leaned against the edge of Jamie's mattress. "I sure would make one crumby Guardian."

"Guardian? What's a Guardian?"

Jack knew what he had to do. There was no way out of it. He had already screwed up, and only the Guardians could help.

"Guardians protect children from evil – like the Boogeyman, who just – You know what? I'll take you to meet North – I mean Santa tomorrow. Sound good?"

"Y-yeah but-"

"There's a lot I need to explain. I can't do it all. North – I mean Santa - _ugh._" Jack slapped his forehead. "Remember last night how I told you about the Easter Bunny's real name being Bunnymund?"

Jamie nodded and relaxed his clutch on his blankets. "Is Santa's real name North?"

"Yeah. All the Guardians have personal names. Santa and the Easter Bunny are kind of like stage names."

"Santa – I mean North's a Guardian?"

"Bunnymund too. And the Tooth Fairy, who we call Tooth. It's short for Toothina. The Sandman is just Sandy. They're the Big Four, otherwise known as Guardians. I was chosen to be a Guardian by the Man in the Moon. He's usually called MiM or Manny. He's the original Guardian, and he chose me to be the fifth Guardian."

"Is he really a man on the moon?"

"I think he's just the moon."

"He's the _moon_?"

"Dunoo. But anyways… I was chosen to be a Guardian to help out with the battle against Pitch. He's the Boogeyman, and he was just here a minute ago." Jack hated aiding Pitch with his popularity conquest. "You couldn't see him because you didn't believe in him."

"But I knew he existed."

"You weren't afraid of him. You knew he was real, but you weren't scared."

"So believing is more than just knowing he exists?"

"It's believing in what he stands for. Just like you believe I stand for snow, frost, ice, winter… You have to _truly_ believe. That's what a true believer does."

"So if I believe in him being evil, then I'll see him?" Jamie asked. He looked at all the empty spaces of the room.

"Don't try looking for him. You might see something you don't want to."

"Like Slender-"

"Go to sleep before you imagine things." Jack flicked Jamie's nose. "Tomorrow's an adventure you'll need lots of energy for."

"How am I supposed to sleep after hearing about the Guardians and the Boogeyman?" Jamie stuck his lip out. "Can't you tell me more about the Guardians?"

"You fell asleep after I told you about Bunny, didn't you? Also I don't know how to explain it all. It's like trying to teach you a whole textbook of history without actually reading it. I might be telling you the wrong facts." Plus Jack didn't know much information he was allowed to share. For all he knew, he could have broken a rule of the Guardians. North wouldn't be pleased with the lack of thought in his decisions.

Jamie huffed and scooted forward until he could flop on his back. "But I can't sleep…" Jamie whined. He lay on his side and curled into a slight ball. "My brain won't shut up. All I can think about are the Guardians."

If Sandy was there, sleep wouldn't be a problem.

"Would a bedtime story help?"

Jamie snapped to a seated position in a blur. "I _love_ bedtime stories!"

"Okay, kiddo, lay back down and let Mr. Frost tell you a story of…of… Hmmm… What kind of story do you want?"

"How you became a Guardian!"

"I'm not a Guardian."

"But you said you were chosen…"

"I didn't accept it. I probably never will."

"You'd make a great Guardian! You saved my friends' lives!" Jamie bounced happily. "I bet you've saved a whole bunch of people. Right?"

Jamie didn't know how hard he hit the nail. He smiled, anticipating Jack to tell a story of another rescue; Jack's face went blank, memories of past failures sweeping to the front of his train of thoughts. Faces flashed before his eyes, but Jamie's excited face was their background. He kept smiling, smiling that happy smile with healthy teeth and innocence. And the people kept screaming, screaming their dreadful cries for mercy and –

Jamie's smile diminished. "Oh crud. I didn't – I'm sorry, Jack. I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have – I'm _sorry_." He crawled out of his cocoon of blankets to give Jack a hug. "Forget what I said."

"I tried. I always tried," Jack said. "I never just let them die."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Jamie asked into Jack's sweater.

"Not to you. You're _ten_. You're not supposed to hear about these sorts of things." Jack patted Jamie's back to tell him to let off the hug. "And ten year olds are supposed to get lots of sleep. Back to bed, mister."

"You're not my mom," Jamie said, but crawled back under his blankets anyways.

"No, but I'm your guardian angel. Guardian Snow Angel Jack Frost, King of the Snowball Kingdom and Captain of the Snowball Army. I command you to sleep, _peasant_."

"I'm not a peasant! I'm your sidekick."

"Kings don't have sidekicks," Jack said as he tucked Jamie in.

"Whatever. I say they can…" Jamie closed his eyes. "What's the Boogeyman's name again?"

"Pitch."

"Tell me a bedtime story about the Guardians kicking his butt. And make yourself a Guardian too."

Jack wanted to omit himself from the story, but he didn't - just for Jamie.

#

"Are we there yet? My feet are numb…"

"I told you to wear thicker socks!"

"Can't you fly me there?" Jamie jumped in front of Jack's path, hopping from foot to foot and clasping his hands in a plea. "_Pleeeeeeeease!_"

"Do you know how awkward it will be if someone sees you flying?" Jack gently pushed Jamie back to the side. "And we're almost there. Just one more minute – if you walk faster."

"Ughhh." Jamie readjusted his scarf and bustled his bottom after Jack.

After two minutes of Jamie huffing and groaning as he stumbled over branches and rocks, they reached one of Bunny's permanent tunnel entrances.

"Stand behind that tree until I tell you to come out."

Jamie pulled his feet out of a high mound of snow and stepped behind the tree.

Jack smoothed some of the snow out with his feet. He jabbed his staff into the ground, sending a wave of snow out in a small radius. Snow pattered the tree Jamie hid behind, and a branch weighed down with snow gave way under the commotion.

"_Hey!_" Jamie brushed off snow from his clothes and shook the snow from his hair. He flapped his shirt out.

"Whoops. My bad. I didn't think of the snow up there."

"Can I come out?"

"Go ahead."

Jamie stepped away, combing the last of the snow from his hair. His eyes fell on the tunnel in the ground and he froze. "Woah."

"Should I jump first? Or do you want the honors?"

"Um…" Jamie peered into the hole. "Is that safe?"

"Of course! It's got to be safe for the kids who accidently fall in. I don't think that has ever happened, but since I'm the one who opened this tunnel, it's probably not gonna be that safe. Bunny hates me, so I won't be surprised if it's a little rougher than usual."

"Are we going to North through that tunnel?"

"Nah. It'll take too long if we go by _this_ tunnel. I'll ask Bunny to open one for us that's more direct."

"You can't just fly us there?"

"You'll be seen. Stay here, don't go anywhere. I'll bring Bunny out." Jack jumped into the tunnel. The opening closed after him.

Jamie sat on the raised root of a tree. His heart was skipping and his knee wouldn't stop bouncing. He was going to meet the Easter Bunny. _The Easter Bunny_.

One of his dreams would soon become true.

He started smoothing out his hair and clothes; he wanted to look presentable.

#

It was a good thing to leave Jamie behind; the tunnel was definitely patchier than before. The roots that jutted out were thicker and ended at sharper points. Vines kept tangling themselves around Jack's legs and arms, hindering him from a quick trip down. Too often he found himself free falling, and then smashing through a cluster of vines and getting trapped in their core.

He grew frustrated quickly and quit the Mr. Nice Guy persona. He sprayed the tunnel with frost as far as he could go and smashed through the frozen plants. Bunny wouldn't appreciate it, and Jack was driving them away from a possible alliance.

The tunnel had a mind of its own it seemed, and decided it had enough of Jack's abuse. It became smooth ground and tiny flowers. Jack tore through with a gust of strong wind.

"Bunny! Hey Bunny! It's an emergency!" Jack flew to Bunny's tree-house. "Bunny?" He peered in one of the open windows. "Guess what? I have a believer!"

No answer.

Jack spiraled around the tree-house, poking his head through windows and knocking on the closed ones.

"Frost! What are you doing?"

Jack landed next the pooka at the base of the tree-house. "Bunny! I have a believer! His name's Jamie!"

"Do you? Congrats! How'd you get him?"

Jack was expecting a jibe.

"He always has believed in me. He saw me at the lake and I didn't have to do anything! Well, I threw a few snowballs at him, but he said he always believed in me, so the snowballs have nothing to do with it. But that's not why I'm here. Pitch was in his room last night."

Bunny's smile dropped. "What?"

"I was watching over Jamie and Pitch came to visit. He gave Jamie a shitload of black sand, but I stopped him."

"You were in his room?"

"I spent the rest of the day with Jamie. He believes in you too."

"Hold up. You mean to tell me that not only did you spend the night with Jamie, but you led Pitch right to him?"

Jack stepped back. "I-I didn't lead Pitch to him. He was doing his usual nightmare trips. You know, spreading fear."

"There are _seven_ _continents_ to spread fear. He wasn't in your location as a _coincidence_. Jack, you dill. Do you realize what you've done?"

"Well, excuse me! I didn't know befriending my believers was a crime!"

"You've endangered Jamie. With the attention you're giving him, Pitch is now interested in what Jamie has to offer to someone like you."

"Someone like me?"

"Someone who's invisible. Jamie's your weakness."

"I've survived without any believers. If Jamie stops believing, I'll be fine." Jack doubted he'd be fine; there was no way he'd admit that.

"You'll be fine, but Jamie? Do you know what Pitch will do to him? You already said he gave Jamie a shitload of black sand. He was going to give more, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Do you know how much black sand a child can handle? How many nightmares they can withstand before they crumble?"

"Not much?"

Bunny raised a fist. Jack raised his staff.

"I should beat the stupidity out of you."

Jack gestured to the sky. "Not now. Jamie's waiting for us up there. I'm taking him to North."

"_You brought him here?_" Bunny thundered. "You – _gah_! I can't _believe_ you. You should've stayed invisible!"

"I thought you said I can talk to you when I want."

"I did, but this is just pure folly." Bunny shook his head and stomped twice to open a tunnel. "You can't be a Guardian if you endanger the children."

"I don't wanna be a Guardian! I already told-"

Bunny jumped into the hole.

"_I'M NOT A GUARDIAN!_" Jack screamed into the tunnel. He glared at the darkness of the hole, wishing for Bunny to pop out so he could whack the eggs out of him with his staff.

Something in his peripheral vision moved. Egglettes were emerging from surrounding bushes and trees. They timidly waddled out, murmuring to each other and gesturing with their stick arms.

"Shouldn't you be painting yourself or something?" Jack frosted about a dozen egglettes. "That's a gift for Bunny."

#

The tunnel opened with a crack. Jamie jumped to his feet, frantically patting himself down for a final check through.

A tall rabbit leaped out of the hole, ears twitching in different directions. "It's just you," he said, voice thick with an Australian accent.

Jamie dropped his jaw. Forget looking presentable; this was the freaking Easter Bunny. In person. Jamie couldn't think about anything. All he could do was breathe, blink, and stare.

"Might wanna close your mouth. Flies could get in." Bunny winked.

Jamie couldn't.

"You're certainly awestruck." Bunny tapped Jamie's jaw shut.

"I'm a big fan," Jamie whispered.

"Huh?"

"I'm your biggest fan!" Jamie tried to bounce through the thick snow. One of his feet wouldn't come out so he landed on his knees, soaking his jeans through with snow and cold. "You're so big! I didn't think you'd be so tall and have an Australian accent." His eyes found the chest strap with colored eggs and two boomerangs. "Are those boomerangs?"

Bunny patted the eggs. "And these are grenades."

Jamie tucked his head back, repulsed. "You don't give those eggs to kids…"

"Of course not!" Bunny pulled Jamie to his feet.

"Can we get going? I thought you said it was dangerous for Jamie to be here," Jack said.

Jamie hadn't noticed the winter sprite standing off to the side of the tunnel's opening. He looked and sounded angry. His eyes were blazing at Bunny's back, and Jamie remembered the story Jack told him last night.

Bunny looked over his shoulder and said to Jack, "Hey Jack, he believes in me too! What a shocker!"

"Shut up, kangaroo," Jack grumbled. The hook of his staff glowed a light blue. "I'll give you a taste of what your egglettes had."

"What about my egglettes?" Bunny stalked to Jack. "Did you do anything while you were down there?"

"I might have."

Jamie could feel the tension in the air. It was a chill that also burned a strange warmth. "Are we gonna go now?" Jamie asked, worried that some kind of brawl was going to happen between the two. "I'm freezing." He rubbed his arms for effect.

Bunny turned away from Jack. "Are you in the mood for a slide?" He smiled.

"A tunnel slide?"

"It'll be a lot of fun."

"And a lot safer than the tunnel I had to go through," Jack said.

Bunny opened another tunnel up. "It's smooth like-"

"A baby's butt. Let's go." Jack stepped into the hole. Whoops of excitement echoed out.

"You two don't like each other, do you?" Jamie asked.

Bunny shook his head. "If I told you half of the things he's done to ruin Easter in the past, you'd understand."

"Jack told me about the Easter of '68."

Bunny shivered. "Please don't remind me." He went to the rim of the tunnel and held a paw out for Jamie. "Ready to experience the best slide on the planet?"

#

Jeremiah peeked between two naked tree branches. He could hear their voices: the Easter Bunny's and Jamie's. There was a third person there, one he couldn't see. His name was Jack; that was all Jeremiah knew.

Jamie climbed onto the Easter Bunny's back, and then the two hopped into the tunnel. The opening swirled shut with a rocky crack.

He ventured out after counting to thirty. He poked through the snow with a stick he found at the foot of a tree. The ground was solid.

Jeremiah threw the stick at the ground and then trudged back home, mentally screaming at himself for not making a move.

* * *

**A/N: **Jeremiah is thirteen years old, but he believes in the Easter Bunny. Hmmm... What do you guys think?

On a positive note, I saw the midnight premiere of _RotG_ so I now know more about the characters' personalities. It's a beautiful movie, and you should all see it. The Jamie/Jack moments are flufftastic. There's also a lot of shipping material for Black Ice (Jack/Pitch), if any of you care.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

Jack shot out of the bunny hole at full speed, darting through the chilly air like one of Tooth's energetic mini-fairies. He spun, arms spread wide, embracing the falling snow. After a long time away from the Pole, it was always refreshing to relive the sudden chill. Better yet, cannonballing into a mound of soft snow felt a rebirth. It killed the revival the sudden drop in temperature gave Jack, but it was the ultimate high he could get. With a whoop Jack took off at steep dive. He cushioned his impact with help from the wind, and the ice parted for him as if it was liquid.

He relaxed in the snow, sighing contently as it melted into his clothes and tickled his toes. Bunny's grumbling brought him climbing out of his small crater. "Lighten up," Jack said, throwing a small snowball at Bunny's stomach. "You warm enough?" he asked of Jamie. The boy was chattering away his teeth, arms wrapped around his chest tightly, body shaking in short but quick trembles. He shook his head. "Guess I can fly you over." Jack took a massive leap and landed in front of Jamie, squatting with his back to the boy. "Climb on and we'll be up, up and away."

Bunny rubbed his arms, not as fazed by the cold as Jamie was, but nonetheless, freezing. "D-drop the kid, I'll k-kick you into a d-darkness darker than pitch black."

Jamie was so cold that he climbed on Jack's back instead of jumping on. His breath made cold clouds puff next to Jack's ear. Poor kid; his family couldn't afford a decent snow jacket. Jack made the trip to North's workshop quick. When the yetis opened the grand entrance doors Jack rushed inside, glided past with hardly a foot over the yetis' heads.

"_Woah._" Jamie's voice was a breathy whisper of amazement. "No. Way."

"Yes way," Jack laughed.

They landed in the empty Globe Room, Jamie's attention completely taken by the giant globe displayed in front of the railing. It was bright with yellow lights, new lights blinking on as quickly as lights blinked off.

Jamie dropped off Jack's back, stumbling over wobbly feet. He grabbed Jack's staff and steadied himself, still staring at the globe.

"You okay, kiddo?" Jack leaned down to look at Jamie's face. The boy nodded and pointed at the globe. "What is that?"

"Each light on that is a kid who believes in the Guardians." Jack smiled, pretending for _just_ a moment that each light was someone who believed in _him_, not just the Big Four. Even pretending, he couldn't fake the complete feeling he was sure came with a ton of believers. Now, the hole in his heart felt bigger. "Cool? Right?"

"I can feel it," Jamie said, big eyes switching to Jack. The smallest smile graced the boy's lips. "I can _feel _it."

"You can feel it?"

Jamie nodded, smiling excitedly. "It feels like a giant fire – except it doesn't burn."

Jack looked from Jamie to the globe. The Guardians hadn't told him anything about the globe other than its purpose.

North pushed through the massive doors of his personal workroom. Big blue eyes fixed automatically on Jamie. "I had a _feeling_ something was wrong."

Jamie spun around, startled – and then frightened. He jumped behind Jack's back, peeking out with a timid gaze.

"I come with peace!" North said, spreading his arms in a welcome. "Sam! Daisy! Bring cookies for guests!"

"Who are you?" Jamie asked in a tiny voice.

"I am the one, the only, Nicholas St. North!" He flung his head back, and confetti sprinkled from the ceiling. Across the ceiling ran a maze of small wooden paths, elves tossing rainbow confetti over the railing and cheering in their squeaky voices.

Sam and Daisy waddled in with a plate of cookies, Bunny hopping behind them.

"What's with the confetti?" he asked.

"My introduction!" North said. "Did you do one?"

"Uh… _No._ North, you've got to take this seriously."

"But why? This is first child in here for many decades." North smoothed his red coat of confetti and patted out his beard. "Of course we need celebration. So child," North clapped his giant hands together and sauntered up to Jamie, "what is your name?"

"Jamie." The boy stepped further away from Jack and nervously smiled. "It's an honor to meet you, sir."

"Oh! The manners!" North feigned a weak heart attack. "You are for sure on the Nice List."

"I try, sir."

"Oh, no need to call me sir. Call me North."

Bunny rolled his eyes and kicked through a small pile of confetti. North turned a curious eye to him. "Jack led Pitch to Jamie," Bunny said, and all the joviality in the Globe Room zapped into nothing.

The elves started to sweep up the confetti with their tiny brooms and the scrit-scratch of the stiff grasses was the only thing heard. North's eyebrows came to rest over his eyes in flat strips, blue eyes solidly staring at Jack.

Jack laughed, and then after seeing the two unimpressed looks on him coughed. "I guess I should explain."

It didn't take long to bring North and Bunny up to the same page. They listened quietly, North stroking his beard and Bunny heating his paws at the fireplace. Jamie shifted from foot to foot, looking over the grandiose decorations of the Globe Room and obviously taken with its magnificence.

No one said anything after Jack finished. North continued to stroke his beard and Bunny continued to hold his paw up to the fireplace.

"I believe," North started, and Jack's bones vibrated from the severity of the old man's tone, "that you have placed Jamie in a dangerous place, Jack. There is no doubt."

Bunny pointed at Jack. "I told you so," his expression snarled.

"Because of Pitch?"

"Because Jamie is _your_ believer. He is a very special child, and Pitch knows that. It seems he already has taken notice."

"That's what I said! Little goober puts a kid in danger. He's no Guardian." Bunny scoffed.

"How many times do I have to say '_I know_' before you stop saying that? I swear that's all you say! 'Jack Frost isn't a Guardian. Blah blah blah.' I _know_ I'd make a shitty Guardian – pardon my language, Jamie – so _quit_ saying that." Jack dropped his gaze to Bunny's bottom paws and mumbled, "I don't even wanna be a Guardian."

No one said anything until Jamie spoke up. "What's Pitch gonna do to me?"

"_If_ Pitch gets his hands on you - which we will make damned sure he doesn't - he will do unspeakable things," Bunny said.

Jamie whimpered and Jack instinctively butted in, "What Bunny means is that Pitch will give you nightmares. A lot of them."

"Not just nightmares. He will make _you_ a nightmare."

Jack put a hand on Jamie's shoulder and pulled him to his side. The poor boy was trembling. "Are you trying to scare him?"

"I'm telling him the truth."

"You're scaring him."

"The truth isn't all snow days and pretty snowflakes. It's hardcore reality, and you don't understand that."

"You don't have to scare him. He looks up to you. He said he was a big fan. Don't you remember?" Jack wished he could freeze the jealousy that rushed into his veins. He foolishly had thought that Jamie would be starstruck with him and not as much with Bunny. The Guardians always stole away Jack's potential fame, and thinking of Bunny stealing away Jamie _hurt_.

"Jack is right. The truth is harsh as you say, but there is no need to frighten Jamie." North held a large hand out to Jamie. "Would you like to see my personal workshop?"

#

Jack paced in the Globe Room, idly tracing the spaces between the floor's tiles and coating them lightly with frost. A few elves hobbled over to watch the patterns of delicate curves and lines slide along the cracks.

Bunny was staring at him from the fireplace. His paws had to be warmed by now, but he still held them up to the fire.

"I know you're staring," Jack unemotionally said and swiped a graceful stretch of frost towards North's workroom. One of the elves slid down it, squeaking happily. The other elves looked at each other questionably before joining their friend. "Go ahead and say it. Whatever you want to say. I'm conditioned to handle the worst."

"I don't get you."

"I don't get you either."

"How can you get involved with a child without thinking of the consequences? Didn't you think at all?"

Jack made another stripe of frost. "I did think. I thought it was pretty freaking awesome that someone saw me for the first time in three hundred years." Jack raised his eyes to glare hotly at Bunny. "How would you feel if you went three centuries without a soul seeing you and suddenly, out of the blue, someone does?"

"You're not the only spirit out there."

"The other spirits don't want to talk to me. They treat me bad so why should I be anywhere around them?"

"You have us Guardians now. Talk to us. Don't go off running around Burgess singing your sad songs about being alone." Bunny had a point, and Jack felt stuck in his thoughts to form a defensive remark. His mouth formed silent and incomplete sentences.

As if he had won an argument, Bunny said, "And there you have it."

Jack always had the Guardians, he supposed, but they never spoke to him. They always ignored him and pushed him aside because he was a common spirit. Sandy gave Jack the most returned attention, but it was always for short amounts of time and very little dedicated attention; the little man was too busy crafting sweet dreams for millions of kids.

They ignored him until he was chosen. Then all of a sudden he was someone.

He hated it.

If he hadn't been chosen, he would have been worth the dust under their feet.

Jack didn't bring it up. He wasn't one for showing defeat so publically, but the salty tears in his eyes were threatening to overcome his control, so he ducked his head and walked away.

#

"Cool! Everything here is _ice_!" Jamie waved his hands excitedly in front of the half carved ice sculpture on the worktable. He wanted to touch the protruding steeple of the building, wanted to feel the slick ice and see if it melted onto his fingers when he touched it.

North watched proudly behind him. "Everything here is cool, and very hip, no?"

Jamie never would have imagined a tattooed man like North saying "hip". "Super hip! Does it melt?"

"Of course! But much slower than regular ice. Is _magical_." North wiggled his fingers in a pseudo magician style.

"Is this a prototype?"

North nodded and pulled the light sheet of tan cloth from the table's edge over it. "That will hold off the melting." Then he clapped his hands and held them together, and Jamie got the feeling that all students did when a teacher told a class that a serious issue was the next discussion topic. North had the same look on his face that Jamie's teacher did when she told them about the upcoming lockdown drill. "I brought you here to talk about your importance in private. Your last name is Bennett, correct? I thought so. I have heard about you. Your light is the brightest on the globe. Have you been told of it?"

"Each light is a kid who believes."

"Not just kids, adults as well, though there are very few."

"And I'm the brightest?"

North nodded. "You've always been the brightest. The yetis and elves call you the Brightest Light."

"Why'm I so bright?" Jamie tried not to let the pleasure of being the brightest of all the believers in the world get to his head.

"Your belief in us is outstanding. Not only do you believe in the Guardians, you believe in many other spirits, and many others beyond our realm. And at such a young age. How old are you?"

"Ten."

"You've been shining for years."

"I've always believed. It was always truth for me." Jamie picked at dried skin on a finger. "I don't think I'll ever stop believing now that I've seen you."

"Even if you never met us, you would still believe. You see, Jamie, you are a _very_ special child. There will always be one child who stands out the most on the Globe. Before you there was a girl. Before her there was another girl. You are the first boy to be the Brightest Light for generations. The last boy was in the 1800s. But that is not main point. Main point is that you are the Brightest Light now, and it is important that you understand who you are."

North walked to a plush red sofa along the room's only window. "Sit with me."

The sofa was rock hard. It reminded Jamie of the cushion on the examining bench in his doctor's office.

"Normally I speak to the Brightest Lights when they reach their teens. That is when their sight interferes with what they know as normalcy. A fourteen year old would freak out if they saw a winter spirit, no?"

Jamie nodded.

"I speak with you earlier than your teen years because of Pitch's rising power. There was no need to worry about this with the ones before you. Pitch was weak and in no position to threaten them."

"But now he's stronger." Jamie thought of last night and the invisible intruder. He didn't fear Pitch before, but now he could feel the fear start as a small disturbance in his body. It was like an ant was crawling through his bone marrow. If Pitch was here now, would Jamie see him? "He gave me nightmares. Really bad ones."

"You won't be getting any more. Jack is now your guardian."

"Really!" Jamie bounced on the sofa. "Does that mean he can sleepover with me?"

North laughed. It was the classic Santa Claus "ho ho ho". Russian accent or not, it sounded like Jamie always imagined it to be, just like in the movies, but with the joyfulness that he could also _feel_.

"If you want."

Jamie wanted to shout his joy, but a question popped in his head and its dark implications made the crawling fear in Jamie's body tingle more. "What did Bunny mean when he said that Pitch would make me a…nightmare?"

"A fearling. It is best that you do not know what they are. They are…terrible things. Do not worry. You have Jack as guardian. He will protect you."

Last night's encounter with Pitch didn't give Jamie any confidence in that, but maybe it would be different now. Maybe last night was just a bad time. Maybe Jack was just out of shape. After all, Jamie was the first one to see Jack. He just needed practice, and Jamie could help him.

"There are more things to talk about, but this is enough for now. I do not wish to overfill your brain." North chuckled and ruffled Jamie's hair. "Now, do you want to see the rest of the workshop?"

* * *

**A/N: **GASP. What is this? An update? WOAH. Just WOAH.

Question: If I made a Ray Lou fanpage on facebook, would you "like" it? I swear I'm not a creeper. I'm just your regular tumblr-fanfic-underage author.


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